This is Day 19 of the Freelance in 40 Days series where you’ll learn to freelance just by taking it one day and one task at a time. Today I’ll give you reasons to start blogging in your freelance career.

You Mean I Need To Start Writing?

Well, let’s begin by saying that if you are not freelancing as a writer nor inspired to be a writer then the motivation to start and write in a blog of your own probably isn’t there at the moment. Who can blame you either? If you are like me then those English classes weren’t your favorite in school either.

Just hear me out on this one though.

Personally, I started blogging because I got caught up in the idea that you can make a few dollars out of it. When I realized it was a very bad reason to start, I still continued on writing and noticed some major benefits blogging had on me as a freelancer: (By the way, don’t ever start blogging with the intent of money from it. Trust me.)

You stay focused in your career
Putting your thoughts into typewritten words makes you realize you have those thoughts in the first place. You may not realize but often times those very thoughts do not get put into practice. I’ve noticed myself even going back to my old posts and recalling my own advice. There is no reason it won’t do the same for you.

You become a voice to the world
Though this takes time and growth in your writing, you will eventually develop an audience which becomes empowering and gives confidence to you as a person and a freelancer. Keep on writing and writing and it will improve, too. If that isn’t enough for you, read The Simple Dollar’s article on developing 1000 true fans. Every blog has a beginning.

The flow in your work improves, not to mention your writing
The hardest part about blogging is continuously keeping up with it. Sometimes a post can take hours to write. Guess what though? Master these and you begin to notice your flow of thought and creativity in your work improve as well. How many times have you sat in front of the computer screen with a “block” trying to get work done?

If you still have your doubts about starting a blog then I’ll answer for you the most common ones.

There’s already a million other blogs out there
That’s true, but do you ever notice how those blog you read and like could be better or suited more to you? That alone is enough reason to start your own.

I can’t write
You need to keep in mind that your English teacher is not looking over your shoulder. Blog posts can be as short or as long as you want and don’t have to be in that stupid introduction, three middle paragraphs and a conclusion format. Truthfully, your blog posts will suck in the beginning but, post and post often, and you will notice an improvement and writing becomes much easier.

I don’t know what to write about
The easiest way to write posts is to write whatever is on your mind, taking a freestyle approach. There’s no requirement on what the subject has to be. With time, your writing becomes more focused and topics will be easier to come up with.

No one will visit my blog
I won’t sugar coat this one. It will probably take anywhere from one to two years for your blog to appear anywhere meaningful in the search engines. Don’t let that be a discouragement, though. Many of the best bloggers out there have done their time and are reaping the rewards of high traffic.

There will be a future tutorial on how you can use Twitter and Stumbleupon to promote your blog that can drastically cut the search engine wait.

Your Homework For Today

Create a blog and write your first post. Visit Day 29 which will show how to set up your own blog.

More on the author, Johnny SpenceJohnny is the founder of The Freelance Rant and a freelance web programmer with 8 years in the business. Have a visit at his company
Oscarrr!web or see what he's up to on Twitter.